U.S. policy on Cuba evolving under President Obama

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30074684/
Travel and financial restrictions to ease; decades-old embargo will stand


President Barack Obama will soon move to ease travel and financial restrictions on Cuba as his administration conducts a broad review of its policy toward the communist nation, a senior American official said Monday.

"We can expect some relaxation, some changes in terms of the restrictions on family remittances and family travel," said Jeffrey Davidow, the White House adviser for the upcoming Summit of the Americas, which Obama will attend.

Davidow said Monday that the changes — which would allow unlimited visits by American families and remove caps on money transfers — are intended not only as a moral step for the estimated 1.5 million Americans who have relatives in Cuba, but also to foster change there.

"Cuban-Americans are the best possible ambassadors of our system and our values," Davidow said. He added, however, that high hopes that some have for reforms since Fidel Castro ceded power to his brother Raul last year have not yet been born out.

Davidow and other officials say the administration is also looking seriously at calls from some lawmakers to allow all Americans to travel to Cuba, appoint a special envoy to oversee policy toward the island and possibly end U.S. opposition to Cuba's membership in the Organization of American States.

policy. There is no need to have milions of people 90 miles from Key West hating this nation.

There is no need to restrict the right of American citizens to go to Cuba, especially those with Cuban ties.

And there is no reason Cuba cannot become a democracy within the next few years.

Very proud of our President.

Had we opened trade up with the Cubans in the 60s the way we did with the Russians, there wouldn't be a communist dictatorship right off our shores today. It's so sad to see the neglect & decay that centralized planning has visited on the beautiful city of Havana. Fifty years from now it'll be as garish & commercial as Vegas--with just a few choice vintage neighborhoods set aside for "cultural heritage" -- and Fidel will be as forgotten as Krushchev. What could have been a 20 year political diversion got turned into a fifty year dead end, thanks to the embargo. So sad.